The Writing Show 2005 Archives

Librivox is the immensely popular volunteer-run public domain audio book recording project founded by Hugh McGuire in August, 2005. In Hugh's first interview on The Writing Show, he invited the world to record books with him. Four months later, he and three volunteers return to update us on Librivox's spectacular progress.

Please join Hugh, Kara Shallenberg, Kristen McQuillin, and Chris Goringe as they discuss:

* Why they enjoy participating in Librivox

* What they've found surprising about reading books aloud

* What's involved in putting together an audio library from scratch

* How Librivox volunteers share some surprising characteristics

* What their favorite projects have been, and why they chose them

We also read a few of our favorite passages aloud.

Join Hugh, the volunteers, and Writing Show host Paula B. as we joke, laugh, and ring in the new year by celebrating books and reading.

In 2003, Paula Berinstein and her husband did a really stupid thing: they started an online bookstore. In 2004, humiliated and a great deal poorer (but wiser), they closed it.

In episode 2 of "How Not to Run an Online Bookstore," Paula explains sadly:

* How they wasted months developing a custom Web site

* Why they rented an office they didn't really need

* How damaged books received from wholesalers and publishers almost put them out of business

* What they did when customers ordered books subsequently found to be damaged

Join Paula for this multi-part series that will be aired a little at a time. And for heaven's sake, don't do what she did!

'Tis the season for greeting cards. We all send and receive them, but few of us know how they're produced. Professional card writer Lisa Riggin joins us to reveal secrets from this glamorous world.

When Lisa got her job at Hallmark, she had done no professional writing. Now she writes for a number of Hallmark products, including cards for kids, Mahogany cards, and Keepsake ornaments. Find out what it takes to follow in Lisa's footsteps. It's easier than you think.

In this fascinating look behind the scenes at one of the world's largest card companies, Lisa explains:

* How she got into greeting card writing without previous experience

* How her assignments are worded

* Which comes first, the writing or the art work

* How the writers stay fresh

* What the lead time for writing cards is (you may be surprised)

* How many writers work at Hallmark

* Whether male and female writers work differently

* What happens after she submits a card

* How meeting with card-buying consumers has changed her approach

Join Lisa and host Paula B. as they probe the inner workings of the greeting card world.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a 30-day frenzied effort to write a 50,000 word novel. Sixty-thousand fiction writers around the world sign up at the NaNoWriMo Web site to work on a first draft at the pace and place of their choice. (See founder Chris Baty's interview at Sign Up for National Novel Writing Month on The Writing Show.) There's no money involved, just inspiration and camaraderie.

NaNoWriMo just ended. How did it go?

J Wynia is a Web consultant, writer, and geek who lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two basset hounds. This is his first National Novel Writing Month.

In this fascinating interview, J talks about:

* Why he participated in NaNoWriMo

* Why his resolve not to prepare in advance almost drove him crazy

* How the writing process went

* How he felt when he wasn't able to finish his manuscript

* How a simple hook helps him build characters

* How he attacks the knotty problem of dialog

* What food has to do with characterization

* Why he plans to give away the novel when it's completed

* Why he's so excited about the idea of open source fiction

Join J and host Paula B. as they explore the process of accelerated novel writing.

Tee Morris is the author of the novels Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword and Legacy of Morevi; editor of The Fantasy Writer's Companion; and co-author of the novel Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana and nonfiction books Premiere 6.5; Premiere 6.5 Power!; and his latest, Podcasting for Dummies. He has just started a podcast called "The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy," which offers marketing tips for writers of all types.

In this adrenaline-filled interview, Tee explains:

* Why writers need to know how to market

* How bad marketing can backfire on you

* How to approach bookstores about doing in-store events

* Why you need to spring into action before the book comes out

* How you can effectively promote a book that's been out for a while

* How to stimulate word of mouth about your book

* What to do, and not to do, if you get a negative review

* How merchandising has worked out for him

* How the right title can help sales

Join Tee and host Paula B. as they explore the most challenging part of publishing.

Nancy O'Neill is Principal Librarian for Reference Services at the Santa Monica Public Library System, where she is responsible for collection development. Every day Nancy makes decisions that affect authors and publishers. Do you know what she's looking for (and what really gets on her nerves)?

In this illuminating interview, Nancy explains:

* How libraries select the books they purchase

* What kinds of books libraries want and don't want

* How to approach libraries about giving book talks

* What library patrons are reading these days

* What you can do to get your books in libraries, and what you should never, ever do

Join Nancy and host Paula B. as they discuss the art of selling to libraries.

In 2003, Paula Berinstein and her husband did a really stupid thing: they started an online bookstore. In 2004, humiliated and a great deal poorer (but wiser), they closed it.

In episode 1 of How Not to Run an Online Bookstore, Paula explains:

* How they came up with such a dumb idea in the first place

* How they luckily managed to avoid following an even dumber path

* Why it was so difficult to get started

* Why having a bricks and mortar store is a waste of time

* What the best thing about the whole enterprise turned out to be

Join Paula for this multi-part series that will be aired a little at a time. And for heaven's sake, don't do what she did!

USC professor Martin Gundersen, who is working to improve the image of science in movies and TV, has been the impetus behind the American Film Institute's screenwriting for scientists workshops. Physicist Diandra Leslie-Pelecky has taken the workshop twice.

Martin Gundersen is Professor of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, Physics and Astronomy, and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California. He sometimes acts as technical adviser to films.

Diandra Leslie-Pelecky is Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Nebraska, where she studies magnetic nanoparticles. Her research, which involves shrinking magnetic material into little balls a thousandth of the size of a human hair, has important possibilities for drug delivery.

In this fascinating serial interview, Martin Gundersen explains:

* How he got the idea to teach scientists and engineers to write movies and TV

* How a brainstorm turned into a popular series of American Film Institute workshops with Department of Defense support

* Why he thinks the portrayal of scientists in film leaves something to be desired

* How audiences are coming to expect more scientific accuracy in their entertainment

* How science enriches our lives

Then, Diandra Leslie-Pelecky reveals:

* What the workshop application process was like

* How the would-be screenwriters were received by the entertainment community

* What the instructors and the classes were like

* What she learned that surprised her

* How the participants got to pitch to DreamWorks at the end of the workshop

* How at least one workshop participant has gone on to make screenwriting her career

Chuck McKenzie was born in 1970, and still spends most of his time there. He writes stories, and sometimes people publish them, which is nice. One day he may grow up and get a real job. Or possibly not.

Cameron Rogers has been an itinerant theatre student, a stage director, and stand-up comic. He spent three months cutting up vegetables in a stainless steel cubicle beneath a shopping mall in the company of a defecting Soviet weightlifter. He almost got suckered into working at what turned out to be a Yakuza-run all-gay bowling alley in Kyoto. His last real job was with the Crime Management Unit of the Queensland Police Service, where crime really didn't pay but he got to hear a lot of stories.

His first novel, The Music of Razors, has been published in Australia and is currently being shown to publishers in the US, UK and Europe.

Cameron lives in Melbourne, and is finishing his second novel, Fateless. He also writes children's fiction under the pseudonym of Rowley Monkfish. He can be contacted via the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.